DEMS/GOP/POLITICS: “Six Democrats are crowding into a House primary race here to challenge an incumbent Republican in next year’s midterm election. One identifies with the anti-Trump ‘resistance’ movement. Another calls himself a ‘practical progressive.’ Two already have more campaign cash than the incumbent, Rep. John Culberson.
It’s exactly the kind of congressional seat Democrats will have to win to seize control of the House in 2018. It’s also a vivid example of the family feud now dividing the party across the country.
While Democrats are unified in their opposition to President Trump, they are at odds over which strategy and message are needed to end the party’s losing streak.
Democratic candidates are split on Sen. Bernie Sanders’s proposal to create a national single-payer health system. They disagree about whether the party should focus on mobilizing its liberal base or instead try appealing to swing voters in the middle. Since the November general election, the Democratic National Committee has posted lackluster fundraising numbers and the party has failed to win back Republican seats in four high-profile special House elections.
Some political strategists warn that contentious primary races could produce nominees too liberal to flip a Republican-held district, despite GOP divisions that have become increasingly and loudly aired in public…
The crowded midterm primary races are likely to offer a preview of the intraparty debate that will go national in the 2020 presidential race.”
-Janet Hook, “Democrats Are United Against Trump, Divided on Everything Else,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 26, 2017 11:21am